Each Member State shall designate the body or bodies, within government ministries or outside, responsible for carrying out the tasks provided for in this Regulation (‘the competent body’ or ‘the competent bodies’) and ensure that they are operational. Where more than one competent body is designated, the Member State shall determine those bodies’ respective powers and the coordination requirements applicable to them.

The composition of the competent bodies shall be such as to guarantee their independence and neutrality and their rules of procedure shall be such as to ensure transparency in the conduct of their activities as well as the involvement of all interested parties.

Member States shall ensure that competent bodies meet the requirements laid down in Annex V.

Competent bodies shall ensure that the verification process is carried out in a consistent, neutral and reliable manner by a party independent from the operator being verified, based on international, European or national standards and procedures concerning bodies operating product-certification schemes.